From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Increasingly, children are being used as choice tools to beg for alms from motorists, commuters and other residents in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT). To say that they are constituting a nuisance is an understatement. More worrisome are indications that some of these children also engage in crimes like pick-pocketing, among others.
These tattered-looking and apparently malnourished children are said to be engaging in different unhealthy activities in the course of their “trade.” Their mothers, who often accompany them, unleash them on commuters and motorists around major roads and bus stops in Abuja for the purpose of begging and other illicit activities.
Some of the children run after slow-moving vehicles to demand alms, while others strategically position themselves at locations where commercial motorbike (okada) operators drop passengers and immediately go after the commuters with passionate appeals for some tokens.
Being minors, they often attract the attention and empathy of compassionate Nigerians, who often give them money, food items and non-consumables.
They are conspicuously present at Nyanya, Karu, AYA (Asokoro), Wuse and Utako Market bus stops. They could also be found in Kubwa, Gwagwalada, Garki and Jabi Motor Park and several other areas in Abuja where people often converge for the purpose of boarding public transport or where social activities take place.
As gathered, they are mostly women and children with neither formal education, skills nor other empowerment, which limits their chances of securing decent opportunities that would improve their standard of living.
From their looks and the special features of their faces, one could easily deduce that many of these beggars and their mothers are not Nigerians. Thus, keen observers are asking why it is seemingly become a tall order for those saddled with the responsibility to police Nigeria’s borders to stop these unregistered immigrants from entering Nigeria.
While some commuters and motorists believe that poverty might have pushed these people to begging, others differ, insisting that these people derive joy in begging even with their health intact.
Some Nigerians have argued that the best way to halt the ugly development is to consciously stop giving alms to these children and their sponsors. They believe that giving them money and items was akin to encouraging them to remain on the streets for the illicit act.
A few months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to pull millions of Nigerians out of poverty in the next few years. Nigerians are eager to see the pragmatic steps being taken to achieve this goal.
Abuja, being one of gateways to other parts of Nigeria and the seat of government, has recently witnessed cases of social ills, especially banditry, street hawkers and presence of beggars at major road junctions in the city.
Officials of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) that ought to protect the sanctity of the environment seem to be overwhelmed by the increasing number of beggars and the destitute in Abuja city centre and other satellite towns in the FCT.
Daily, these beggars come under serious heat from AEPB task force officials bent on evacuating them from the streets of Abuja to rehabilitation centres, but that has not deterred them from reappearing whenever the opportunity avails itself.
However, there are indications that the endless chase and unfriendly environment created by AEPB officials made it a bit difficult for some of them to operate freely within Abuja city during the day, but they choose to unleash their ‘arsenal’ at night when state officials might have closed for their day’s routine.
Many of the beggars who could not withstand the heat by the officials were forced to move down to major satellite towns in Abuja to ply their trade. There, they operate freely during the day and night with limited or no disturbance from FCT officials.
Some Abuja residents expressed concerns about the future of these children who are supposed to be in school but end up on the streets hawking and begging. The fact that they are denied family and societal love, education, training and other skills that would improve their chances in life means they could also be a security threat to the society.
A motorist at Jabi Motor Park, who identified himself as George Ekanem, said the activities of the beggars should get the urgent attention of government, because they are increasingly becoming a nuisance and security threat to society.
He said passengers had, on several occasions, alleged that their valuables were stolen by the children, who, in most cases, appear innocent and harmless.
Ekanem alleged that their mothers have, obviously, taught and trained them to appear gentle, harmless, but they could turn hostile when the need arises.
“Their mothers often sit by one corner guiding them on how and when to strike and go after a potential giver. Aside from the normal begging, their mothers monitor peoples’ movement and those that are careless with their valuables. The children are then signalled to attack.
“They succeed in most cases, except in few ones. Obviously, hunger, bitterness and poverty have taken away the innocent mind in these children and replaced it with hostility,” he said.
Israel Magaji, a commuter in Jikwoyi, Abuja, said: “In some areas, the children run after pedestrians or bystanders with handkerchiefs, cleaning their shoes or trousers, and, in some other cases, car windscreens for a token. They usually become hostile when they are denied the financial token.
“In Karu and Nyanya axis, both the children of local and ‘expatriate’ beggars are unleashed on commuters. It’s indeed a fierce competition for survival.
“The children and their parents take strategic positions at various bus stops and carefully target passengers who might want to collect N50 or N100 change from commercial drivers or okada riders. They would go after the passenger, cause serious disturbance and embarrassment until something is dropped for them.”
Similarly, a passenger at Nyanya, Kazeem Ibrahim, said he used to show compassion to the children and their parents, especially at the peak of the Boko Haram activities in North, but stopped doing so when he noticed that the children were being used for business.
He said: “I noticed these children and their parents enjoy begging and they are making much more fortune than we the people giving the money. In fact, I became more strong in my decision after the 2019 presidential election when I saw that these same people who are being impoverished by their ruling class overwhelmingly voted for the same people again.
“With no apology to anyone, I have put a stop to giving money to these women and their children on the street, and I have no regrets about it. You can imagine that they are increasing in number and breeding in such a hopeless situation. That is a serious social and security threat to the society.”
Meanwhile, some residents appreciated the efforts of officials of AEPB towards sanitising the city and suggested that new approaches be adopted to achieve better results.
They also challenged the Nigeria Immigration Service and other relevant government agencies should go after the foreign beggars and repatriate them to their countries.